Millions join Spain’s first general strike in 14 years in protest at housing crisis
MADRID —Four million Spanish workers joined the country’s first general strike in 14 years, enduring stormy weather to protest against soaring housing prices less than three weeks before an election in which the far right could be catapulted into power.
At the center of Wednesday’s nationwide 24-hour stoppage, called for by tenants’ associations and later backed by workers’ unions, is a pushback against Spain’s deepening housing crisis.
It is the first general strike since workers downed tools in 2012 against austerity measures during the euro zone debt crisis. The walkout is backed by Spain’s two largest unions, UGT and CCOO, representing more than a million workers, as well as tenants’ associations angry about rising rents and evictions.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hopes to harness voter resentment over housing in the November 29 election to shift the political narrative away from corruption cases involving his inner circle and a deadly train crash last month. So far, his Socialist Party still trails in opinion polls.
While workers’ unions reported high participation in the strike across several sectors, including 90% in the automotive and port sectors and 82% in waste collection, they said participation was uneven across the country. The strongest support was reported in coastal regions, such as Catalonia and Andalucía, where the soaring cost of housing has been particularly acute.
On Madrid’s Gran Via, one of the capital’s main shopping streets, protesters cheered as stores including Primark, H&M and Pull & Bear drew their shutters amid a heavy riot police presence.
“We’re going to close the Mango store,” the protesters chanted as they jangled sets of house keys above their heads.
Many shops in Barcelona were also closed and boarded up in anticipation of unrest.
Spain has a deficit of about 750,000 homes, which is set to grow to more than a million by 2028, according to the central bank.
With fewer people able to afford a home, renting has increased sharply, putting pressure on that market. The average rental price of €1,176 ($1,315) is equivalent to about 98.7% of a young person’s average monthly salary in Spain, according to the Youth Council of Spain.
“I’m 36 years old and I still can’t move out on my own,” said Madrid resident Jesus Gonzalez, who works in a hospital IT department and supports the strike. “Rents just keep going up, house prices just keep going up, and it’s simply impossible.”
Angela de Miguel, vice president of Spain’s main business lobby CEOE, said the strike was counterproductive because small businesses were also affected by the housing crisis, since shortages of homes made recruitment more challenging.
Speaking on state broadcaster TVE, she said the solution was to build more homes and to lower taxes in construction and the home-buying process.
Plans for massive protest marches in the afternoon were threatened by two heavy storms, dubbed Charles and Bruna, with unions suspending a demonstration in the southern port city of Cadiz.
The tenants’ union said it still expected participation in the strike to reach 5 million people by the end of the day. Spain has around 23 million workers, according to the national statistics institute.
Electricity demand dropped by as much as 15.5% between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., according to Spain’s grid operator Red Electrica.
Barcelona’s metro said no trains would run outside peak commuting hours, while Madrid’s metro said peak-hour usage was down 42% compared to the same period last week.
However, with more people able to work remotely and the increasing weight of services in Spain’s economy, the impact of the strike is likely to be less pronounced than in previous years, according to Miguel Cardoso, chief economist at BBVA Research. He estimated that the strike could shave 0.1%-0.2% off Spain’s annual gross domestic product.
Spain’s fast-growing hospitality and finance industries are less unionised than the public and industrial sectors.
Police had reported 40 arrests by midday from 476 incidents linked to the general strike, including blockades of offices and industrial estates and burning of rubbish containers.
Unions said they would file a criminal complaint against what they described as a “disproportionate” response during a police operation involving tear gas and batons that left 20 protesters injured.
The strike follows weeks of demonstrations provoked by the eviction and subsequent death of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid.
Those protests, along with parliament’s rejection last month of government decrees aimed at curbing evictions and limiting rent pressures, prompted Sanchez to call the snap election.
